2026 AAD Innovation Academy: Derm Tank and Scientific Posters
Ideas Shaping What’s Next
2026 AAD Innovation Academy brings together emerging perspectives and conversations shaping the future of dermatology. Through featured experiences like Derm Tank and Scientific Posters, attendees can explore new concepts and insights from across the specialty in an environment designed for exploration.
Learn more about these featured experiences and what to expect below.
Scientific Posters
From groundbreaking discoveries to practice-changing insights, the latest clinical research in dermatology comes to life through an expanded scientific posters program at Innovation Academy. Explore more posters than ever before, on display throughout the Experience Hub.
Derm Tank
Friday, July 17 | 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
This exciting and high energy session allows contestants to pitch their product, procedure, or new idea to a panel of judges for a chance to win $10,000 in seed funding. Gain visibility, expert feedback, and support to bring your idea to life. During this session you'll also hear an update from the 2025 Derm Tank winner, Katherine Lee on CryoCaptures.
Meet This Year’s Contestants
Pandi – the patient-friendly companion dermatoscope
Pandi is a highly affordable (<$5) polarized light dermatoscope designed to work with a patient’s smartphone and our companion smartphone app to capture the types of quality images dermatologists are used to seeing in the clinic with dermatoscopes 100x more expensive. It is great for use with teledermatology services and between care visits.
Presented by: Athira Sivadas, BA
Vittori-Gao Atraumatic Forceps
A handheld surgical instrument designed for cosmetically sensitive procedures that atraumatically everts skin or soft-tissue edges, improves tissue control, and facilitates precise suture placement during wound closure, reducing crush injury, instrument exchanges, and technical difficulty while supporting more efficient, reproducible, aesthetically favorable repairs.
Presented by: Michael Vittori, MD, PharmD
InflammIQ: A Biosensing Dressing Platform for Real-Time Acute Wound Microenvironment Monitoring
InflammIQ is a low-cost smart wound-monitoring platform embedded into existing dressings to continuously detect early signs of infection and impaired healing through a visible bedside color change. Adaptable across open and closed wound types, it provides real-time noninvasive surveillance across burns, surgical wounds, hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), supporting earlier clinical intervention and bedside wound assessment without specialized equipment.
Presented by: Sarah Antonevich, MS
